Last week, Halcyon and I went for a walk around the Pardes Shalom, a Jewish cemetery in the town of Maple just north of Toronto. It turned out to be much bigger than I expected, and in spite of the orderly rows, much more confusing to our uninitiated eyes to find our way around.
And, in looking up the history, I discovered that we missed a free walking tour! If only I had done the research as soon as I got home... though it is a long drive to go back.
Two things I noticed immediately that is different from many of the cemeteries I have wandered through recently is the neat rows with each grave facing the same direction and with the back of each stone including the surname. Maybe the names is not traditional but simply an accommodation to the fact that the entrance to this cemetery is at the western edge of the land, but it is a very nice feature. Also, the stones are pretty much all the same height with minor variations in the shapes - no one towers over the others or shows off with a large monument.
The Pardes Shalom Cemetery has been beautifully landscaped, which took five years, from 1972-77, to transform this former Christmas tree farm and gravel pit. Special attention was made to create a space that was as much for the living as for the dead. Had I gone on the walking tour I would now be able to tell you about the various species of the thousands of trees that were planted and the history of the land with the "attempts that have been made to promote the land's environmental health and the visual integrity of the cemetery".
What I can tell you is that there are 15,000 burials with most of the grounds filled with graves. Some of the plots once belonged to synagogues or burial societies while others were purchased directly from the cemetery. There was a variety of traditional and more modern graves, some were written on the front entirely in Hebrew, some had flowers, some had mementoes left. Almost all had stones left on top by those visitors who stopped by to remember them.
See more grave practices at Taphophile Tragics
That first photograph is amazing. Seeing all those simillar stones streatching off into the distance.
ReplyDeleteThe one with the stones is simply stunning.
Beneath Thy Feet
that last one must have been for a very popular person (the whole inscription was in Hebrew, so I have no idea if this is even for one person or a couple or a family.
DeleteI'd like to hear more about the origin of the tradition of leaving stones on headstones... that's different! And I like the concept of creating a space that for the living as much as for the dead. (How nice you've kept in touch with Halcyon!)
ReplyDeleteI think the stones may have something to do with one of their customs not allowing flowers on the gravesite, so people would leave stones instead of a flowers. I like that idea of leaving a stone to say you were there.
DeleteI've seen a few stones on the top of headstones here as well and had no idea what that was all about.
ReplyDeletemore commonly nowadays, it is likely left as a sign of your visit, but it may also have been much more symbolic centuries ago. apparently, at one time, the graves did not have a marker, but were covered with a mound of stones and people would add to them. some of the graves we found also had the 'grave bed' covered in stone.
DeleteThat is fascinating about the stones - I had never come across that.
ReplyDeleteThe tombs may all be facign in the same direction because they are all meant to face Jerusalem - is that possible?
or they may just be facing the east where the sun rises. many Christian burials were that way too, but it has not been consistent.
DeleteIt all takes me back to when i used to wander around the local cemetery, but then I liked to study the stones rather than the inscriptions.
ReplyDeleteI like to wander and wonder at both the stones and the inscriptions. it is interesting to see what names were predominant in each area.
ReplyDeleteThe landscaping looks beautifully done! I like the idea of the placing of stones after a visit. Where we have relocated our offices to there is a cemetary near by which I haven't visited yet but intend to. I really like reading the inscriptions and pondering on the lives buried there...
ReplyDelete